Hippie Hacks.

b.) don’t use a blowdryer since your solar panels will get too overdrawn

c.) actually possess a COMPOSTABLE TOILET. Or,

d.) all of the above plus many, many more damning tidbits of hippieness

— you are a card-carrying, lighter-waving, tie-dying, proudly dirty

HIPPIE.

Which as you may know by now, applies to me. So please, allow me to share some of my natural-living tips and tricks from being one of the hippiest little bloggers you might find on your RSS feed.

{Oh, what’s that you say?! You haven’t subscribed yet? Because I’m a blogging n00b and didn’t even have a Feedburner account until like five minutes ago? It’s there now, I think it even works. Please make my day and click that happy little button at the top of the page. Know that I do a little squeal and a dance when you do.}

1.) Scrub Your Face with Soda

Baking soda. The stuff can do anything! Scrub your sinks, de-stink your fridge, whiten your teeth, bake your goods… the list goes on. But have you ever used it as a quick and easy facial exfoliant and cleanser? It’s the poor woman’s microdermabrasion, I tell you. Except a lot gentler. Here’s how I make it work:

Find a container to re-purpose with an easily-opening lid. This way, you won’t have to fumble around with those impossible cardboard boxes, or a bag of loose soda or anything. You want something handy and semi-waterproof that you can keep in or near your shower. I used an old vitamin bottle with a flip-top lid.

Pour a bit out into the palm of your hand and add a few drops of water to make a nice paste.

Rub and scrub in gentle circles all over your face. Optional: use a face brush to really dig it in there.

Rinse and revel in your cleverly-attained $0.03 facial!

This makes everything so smooth! You’ll notice that makeup goes on more evenly and that all the dry flakies are history. My trouble areas for that tend to be around the corners of my nose — the baking soda clears it right up. I swear, it’s even starting to make my pores smaller and helping to diminish clogged ones in my T-zone.

I generally do this once every couple days, very lightly, then a harder scrub once a week. I’m a firm believer that most people over-clean themselves — do you really get that much actual dirt on your face? Oil, sure, but did you know that if you clean your face less frequently, your sebaceous glands will actually produce less of the slick stuff? Just wipe with a towel on days when you don’t wash.

2.) Moisturize with Coconut Oil

(photo courtesy of me trespassing onto my neighbor’s farm)

Coconut oil is a such a wondrous treasure, isn’t it? If you’re a Real Foodie, you know it’s one of the healthiest things to consume — loaded with all that good saturated fat! Perfect for mixing into your cooking, excellent for high-temp frying, and even great to bake with.

I love it for all those reasons, but I also love to slather it all over my body.

If you’ve never done this, I know what you’re thinking.

“Gross! Won’t that make you super greasy-looking?!”

Shockingly, no! I had heard of this Hack quite a while ago, but just was not convinced it wouldn’t leave me looking like a slippery, slick mess. Especially on my already-prone-to-oiliness face.

But since I already have a perma-look of nasty, sweaty from year-round tropical humidity “dewy” skin, I figured it was worth a shot. Coconut oil actually seems to absorb quite well into my skin! Reports from fellow Hippie friends in less dew-prone areas of the globe have said the same.

I mean, go easy on the stuff — just rub enough onto your hands to make them “glisten” and gently wipe your face. It really shouldn’t leave you looking like a greaseball. If you went overboard though, wash your hands and try wiping some of it off, or even dabbing with a clean towel. If you’re still a bit hesitant and worried about looking too oily, give it a try at night before you go to bed (where no one in public can see you!).

For an all-over glow, oil-up your whole body! Spreading it on your arms and decollete gives a healthy, hydrated look to your skin, and using it anywhere you shave will help ease dryness and razor burn.

3.) Condition Hair with Avocado

The idea of using this wonder-food as a beauty aid has been around the block — even unto ancient cultures such as the Aztec and the Mayan — so you may have already heard this one. But if you’re anything like me, you’d much rather put your precious (spendy!) avocado in your belly than in your hair. And if you’ve actually tried one of the traditional hair remedies with it, such as mashing up the fruit with an egg yolk and some olive oil and pouring it over your locks in the name of fighting the frizz — you know what a HUGE mess that can lead to!

Thankfully, there’s a better way.

Skip the pit, and go straight for the oil. Avocado oil works wonderfully as a substitute for smashing up the good stuff. Here’s my routine with it:

Pour a little puddle into your palm.

Work the oil straight into your dry hair, concentrating on the ends. I pretty much just do the bottom half of my hair.

Leave on for at least 10 minutes or so, but ideally, as long as you can.

Wash your hair as per your normal routine.

Notice that super-soft and shiny, magnificent mane of yours!

If you can’t see yourself spending the $1-$2 an ounce a bottle of avocado oil will cost you, consider that it won’t just serve as food for your hair. Avocado oil has a high smoke point, making it great to cook with, and it’s light flavor lends itself to a great substitute for olive oil in many cases where you don’t want such a noticeable taste. It also offers a nice balanced dose of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, in addition to antioxidant vitamins A, D, E and even beta-carotene. Go for it!

Well, that’s it for today. Stay tuned next weekend for another episode of Hippie Hacks! 😀

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MEDICAL DISCLOSURE: Your health is between you and your health care practitioner. Nothing in this blog is intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.

Why is it that coconut oil was so anathema in the 1980’s because it was so loaded with saturated fat that all the health experts were saying to avoid it like the plague if you had high cholesterol and now they say it’s OK? I have genetically inherited high cholesterol (so does my dad and he’s 90 and is a string bean). Same goes with eggs. Yolks are the cholesterol laden part of the egg and when I make home made mayo, I use egg whites, fresh lemons and grapeseed oil and it come out great. Just can’t make the shift again to think coconut oil and egg yolks are OK. One decade it bad, 20 yrs later it’s cool. What gives?

It’s so frustrating, isn’t it?? There is SO much conflicting information out there, it makes it so hard to decipher what’s truth, what’s propaganda, and what to really believe.

My new way of thinking is this though — if eating a certain way worked for thousands of years for traditional cultures leading to profoundly greater health than we have in our current society, then tradition has something greater to teach us than the health “experts” of our time. Don’t you think?

It is so difficult to undo all the years of food brainwashing we’ve all been subjected to though. I have genetically high cholesterol as well, and still wince at eating those cholesterol-heavy foods, before I have to remind myself that cholesterol being “bad” for you is one of the worst-offending health myths out there today. Have you read Nourishing Traditions yet? Sally Fallon does such a great job of explaining. Or take a look at this article from the WAPF: http://westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/531-cholesterol-friend-or-foe

I have terribly dry skin in the winter. I live in PA where winters can be harsh and my skin aches and flakes the entire time. I think the baking soda will come in handy then and will save me a lot of dough, since I {sheepishly} admit that I use store bought exfoliators.

I’ve read about coconut oil and I just ordered some, so I’m anxious to try it.

Totally, Kristia! Baking soda is about as cheap as it gets! Good for you. Definitely load up on that coconut oil in conjunction with soda exfoliation though — if you have already dry skin, you’ll want to moisturize extra good after that!

You have saved me from buying a commercial face scrub! 😀 Thank you!! I tried coconut oil as a moisturizer once but it left me all oily….and now I know it’s because I used WAAAAAAAAY too much. Thanks for the tips!

I’ll try the baking soda… I’ve been using an equal mix of sugar and honey as a scrub + moisturizing mask, and it works really well too. But I’m always looking for new stuff to try (and I have so, so much baking soda bc I use it for everything else!)

Very good tip on the avocado oil… wouldn’t have thought of it. Another use… makes a great mayo, even in conjunction with other oils like olive, coconut etc.

My husband had psorasis (spell?). He now rubs coconut oil on his face and hasn’t had a breakout since. My skin tends to be oily even at age 53 but even I use a tad of coconut oil on the dry cheeks and eyes. Love it.

[…] exactly like the paste that I use to clean the tub with! I originally had heard about this from a friend’s blog. So I realized that it’s entirely plausible and I might not be too far off! So instead of […]

[…] find a bar of soap that works better than a 99 cent bulk end of handmade soap from the co-op. I can’t find a better facial scrub than 0.03 cents worth of baking soda. I can’t find a healthier more refreshing drink than home-brewed kombucha. I can’t find […]